Conventional rural mailboxes include a door pivotally attached to one end of the box, a mechanical latching device to hold the door in the closed position, and a signal device, such as a flag pivotally connected to the side of the box to indicate the presence or absence of mail in the box. In use, the postal carrier delivers incoming mail to the box and collects any outgoing mail placed in the box by the resident or owner of the mailbox. Such an arrangement can be time-consuming for the postal carrier who must first remove the outgoing mail from the box before placing the mail being delivered into the box.
In an effort to segregate the outgoing mail from the incoming mail in a rural type mailbox, U.S. Pat. No. 916,766 discloses a letter box having a receptacle or shelf operatively connected to the door of the box in such a manner that the receptacle is drawn out of the box when the door is opened, to thereby expose the mail which is to be collected. While the mailbox disclosed in the above noted patent is satisfactory for its intended purpose, the receptacle is built into the mailbox as an original accessory requiring brackets, secured to the side walls of the box, upon which the receptacle or shelf is slidably mounted, and links are pivotally connected between the mailbox door and bottom of the receptacle.
In order to provide an improved rural mailbox having provision for segregating the outgoing mail from the incoming mail, the receptacle of the present invention has been devised which cannot only be provided as an original accessory for new mailboxes, but also as an accessory easily installed in existing mailboxes.
The mail receptacle of the present invention comprises, essentially, a receptacle, adapted to receive outgoing mail, connected to the door of a conventional rural mailbox by a leaf spring having one end secured to the inside face of the mailbox door, and the opposite end connected to the bottom wall of the receptacle, whereby the receptacle is supported by the leaf spring in a cantilevered manner, to thereby provide a floating receptacle so that when the mailbox door is opened, the receptacle is pulled forwardly out of the box to expose the mail in the receptacle for immediate pick up by the postal carrier.